Weekly class reflection
#4:
This week we had to catch up work due to the fact that last week we had no class. Hale had written on the white board about 5 examples from the articles that the group had e-mailed her last week to give us pointers on mistakes she had picked up. There was an opening line concerning a student that had died on Stellenbosch campus last week. This opening line was way too long and almost ‘wishy washy’ in the sense that it left a hanging idea. It had no firm ground to inform the reader directly. It was pointed out that it must be kept in mind to be specific about time and place, and that there mustn’t be unnecessary words thrown into the body of the text.
One of the most prominent mistakes that came up was inaccurate titles. Smart or known catch phrases were adapted to link with the text, but there was a case where a phrase was used incorrectly. Another student’s work provided an example a title that is not at all linked to the story. The idea which the reader would expect by reading the heading was not at all what the article was about.
*Choice of words indicate the nature of the story
Finally, it must be kept in mind that sentences must not be too ‘wordy’ and that the paragraphs must be ranked in order of importance. The final paragraph would usually be made up of bystanders’ interviews or so.
Think about this: what makes a story newsworthy? What is it about a story that makes it worth printing for people to read and/or even care about?
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